Fushigi Yuugi: Seiryuu Saikaiden
by MercuryMoon
Summary: Yui has the chance to redo her story as the Priestess of Seiryuu. Knowing what she knows but unable to say anything about it, how will her story change? Takes into consideration events from the FY novels.
1. Regrets

_Disclaimer: Fushigi Yuugi and all of its characters belong to Yuu Watase. _

**1. Regrets**

It was the anniversary of that day. The day she had been devoured and then revived by the best friend she had doubted for so long. The day she fell into the arms of the man she thought she now loved. Tetsuya was kind, he was sweet, but the spark of passion was somehow missing. She didn't want to admit it but she was jealous of the love Miaka and Taka shared. Was she only with Tetsuya because he had rescued her? The fact that she questioned told her a painful truth.

She took a seat at her desk and slid open her drawer, pulling out the sapphire earring. If only she had trusted, had looked within herself to admit what she didn't want to. That she was the cause for the rift. And for all the hurt around. The deaths of her seishi. Could she have protected them? She would never know.

And the people of Kutou.

She had never done anything for the people who had trusted her with their lives. She had become so embroiled in her conflict with Miaka and the lies Nakago had fed her that she had forgotten her sworn duty as the Priestess of Seiryuu, which was to bring peace to her land, not wreck further havoc.

She rolled the earring around in her palm. There was no real need to keep the earring, but something compelled her to hang on to it. It served as a reminder of lessons learned and lessons that must never be forgotten.

_Is that your wish?_

She blinked and stared at the earring. Had it just spoken to her?

_It is I, Seiryuu._

She hesitated. "Seiryuu?" she whispered.

The earring said nothing, only seemed to wait.

"What do you want?"

_If you could go back and do everything again, would you?_

To return to her fifteen-year old self, so full of insecurities and pain. Did she want that?

Yet the chance to make amends…

"Will I remember what I know now?" she asked.

_You will, but to speak of it will undo the spell. Are you willing to risk that? _

"I would do anything to have another chance," Yui whispered.

_Then another chance you will have._

The world around her began to swirl. "Wait!" she cried. She threw her arms in front of her face as blue light blinded her. "How is this possible?"

There was no answer, only the gradual displacement of her bedroom to the all-too-familiar forlorn streets of the capital of Kutou. How could this be? The events of the book had gone and happened a year ago. How was she here again? Yui hugged herself, forcing the ice in her stomach to dispel. Yes, she remembered these streets. There was the beggar simply sitting against a shabby building, the grass growing out of cracks in the street. Before, she had been so preoccupied with searching for Miaka that she had paid him no notice. This time however…

Yui paused before the man, who didn't even look up at her, so disheartened he was. His bare feet were leathered and he only wore a thin layer of clothing, which was so patched there was barely any of the original tunic left.

_Remember…_

"Mister," she said as she knelt before him. "Are you all right?"

He raised his head and empty eyes met hers. "Missus?"

She slipped off her jacket and wrapped it around him. "Here, it's not much, but it's the least I can do."

His worn face broke into a smile that revealed missing teeth and he bobbed his head. "Oh, thank ye, yer too kind!"

Yui bowed her head. "It is what one should do," she said as she got to her feet. She backed away and realized that her shoulder-length hair was back to its boyish cut. She ran a hand through. Time really had unwound then. And this time she knew what was going to happen. This time, things would be different.

"Miaka?" she called, but there would be no response. There would be no response because her best friend had removed her school uniform, severing their connection and almost their friendship. She still had to try though.

"Hey, look at that girl."

She flinched at the words that were still burned into her memory. No. It couldn't be happening again. It couldn't! She broke into a run.

Catcalls, then whoops.

The hunt was on and she was the hapless prey.

"Get her!"

She was tackled to the ground and her limbs pinned by the other three men. They flipped her onto her back, kicking and punching the entire way. The man on top of her started ripping her clothes off with steady concentration. No! She didn't want this again! She didn't want his stinking, hot breath on her! She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to give them any pleasure. Nakago was going to show up and rescue her. He had to! This time she wasn't going to faint so he would have the handy excuse of pretending she had been raped before he could save her. That knowledge didn't help the utter violation she felt of foreign, unwanted hands on her skin and the way they caressed her like she was an object. She tried to scream, to get help, anyone, but her voice was gone. She struggled, but they merely laughed. "You're going to regret this," she spat as she glared at them.

"Fiesty, aren't you? Don't you want to play with us?" the man sitting on her asked. He licked his lips and leaned in close.

_Remember…_

* * *

_A/N:_ Hi everyone! The idea for this story stemmed from a conversation with harukonekonya and me where we discussed wanting to see what would happen if Yui had the chance to redo her story in the Universe of the Four Gods. I had a story a long time ago, too, about having another Seiryuu Priestess but dropped it after only a chapter or two, so I thought this would be an interesting challenge. The meaning of the title is basically _The Legend of Seiryuu's Restart_. harukonekonya translated it for me. c: Thanks!

I'm going to also try to update at least somewhat regularly, which is something I haven't been doing with my Tenkyoku fic (going to try to be more regular with updates there, too). Anyway, hope you enjoy this story!


	2. Sticks and Stones

**II. Sticks and Stones**

_...may break my bones, but lies will always haunt me. _

There were two loud thunks and the man on top of her collapsed, along with the man on his right. The other two men hissed in annoyance and looked up.

It was the beggar she had helped. He quavered before them, a big stone in each of his hands, ready to be thrown. "Le-le-let her go, she hasn't done anything to you."

One of the men rose, releasing her leg. "Or what?" he asked with a derisive snort.

"Yeah, we're just having fun here. Why're you ruining it! What do you care about a random girl!"

"Let 'er go!"

Yui wrenched her left wrist free from the unconscious man's loosened grip and tried to shove the first man off. The fourth man noticed what she was doing and grabbed for her leg, but she kicked upwards and he toppled over, his mouth a small O. There was another thunk amidst the commotion and the last man was down.

The beggar helped her up. "Let's go!" he said. "They're going to wake up again!"

He tried to pull her away, but Yui stood fast, glaring down at the three unconscious men and one conscious man who probably wanted to be dead to the world at the moment. She wanted to bash their skulls in for trying to rape her not once, but _twice, _but doing so might give Nakago the time he needed to find her and she did _not_ want that to happen yet, not until she was more emotionally ready. She really wasn't sure if she could resist his cold manipulations, even having hindsight to help her.

She turned to the beggar. "Thank you," she said, hugging herself. "I.. I owe you."

The beggar tugged on her sleeve and tried to pull her away again. "No, missus, ye don't. Let's go!"

"We're going to get you for this!" the man said as he dragged himself toward them, one hand still near his sensitive area. Yui couldn't tell if his face was red from exertion, pain, fury, or a combination of all three, but she didn't want to find out. "We will!"

Cold fury washed over her. "We can't have him following us," Yui said. She spotted one of the rocks that the beggar had thrown and scooped it up with both hands. She was about to drop it over his head when the sound of running feet reached them. She settled with bashing him instead, just hard enough to knock him out. Then she ran, hauling the beggar with her.

"There!" They ran into the nearby alleyway, crouched behind the building, and peeked out. The beggar wanted to keep fleeing, but she sat there stubbornly. Stupid! She didn't know if it would be more of their friends or someone else entirely, but she had to know! If she didn't recognize them, she'd run, but she had to see.

The runner turned out to be a honey brown-haired boy dressed in light blue, who rushed to the men as soon as he spotted them. There was something familiar about him and she craned her neck to get a better look.

Her heart stopped.

Suboshi! It was Suboshi! What was he doing here? And he was alive! She really had gone back into the past then! The wave of guilt that always accompanied thoughts of the hot-tempered yet vulnerable boy who had been the only seishi she had truly connected with almost overwhelmed her. Yui was about to call out to him when he shook the man who had been on top of her awake. The man groaned as he awakened and Suboshi helped him lean against the wall where Yui and the beggar could see them.

"That ki!" he said. "Did you see a girl dressed in strange clothes? That had to be her!"

The man shot him a dirty look and massaged his head. "Yeah, we saw someone like that. Thought she was hot, so we wanted to do her. Some beggar helped her escape though." He slammed his fist against his palm. "If I get my hands on those two again…"

The air around Suboshi seemed to tense up. "What? What are you going to do?" he asked.

The man paused and glanced at the younger man. "Why, you want a piece of her, too?"

The slap rang across the street.

"Why, you little brat-!"

Suboshi pushed himself up from the ground and backed away. His demeanor had completely changed now. He put a wooden flute to his lips. An eerie sound floated through the air and the man began to twitch and spasm as the melody intensified. Yui covered her ears, trying to block out the screams that seared her soul. The beggar cowered near her, his eyes squeezed shut, but Yui was mesmerized by the scene before her and couldn't stop watching. They were despicable men and she wanted them to die but there was just a modicum of pity for them as they writhed in the dirt, for all four men were forced awake by the haunting flute.

Their heads burst and Yui gasped, throwing her arms over her face. When the song ended, the quiet was almost as deadly as the performance had been. With some effort, Yui climbed to her feet and leaned against the wall, breathing hard. She stumbled along until she was back out on the street again.

The lone boy stood there among the carnage. She could just make out a fading blue light on his shoulder. Suboshi… no. That couldn't have been Suboshi. If it had been Suboshi, he would have killed them with his _ryuusuisei_. A brutal, physical death, but this was in some ways worse. The song had gotten into their heads. Forced their way in and attacked their minds. There had been no escape. No, this wasn't Suboshi. This. This had to be Amiboshi.

Then he glanced at her and their eyes met.

* * *

_A/N: If you can't tell yet, I'm pulling from information found in the Seiryuu novels. In Amiboshi and Suboshi's story, Amiboshi just barely misses Yui. He feels her ki and runs over, but Nakago takes her away before he actually meets her. This is just my interpretation, but I feel like Amiboshi would have sensed Yui's ki here anyway, even without Nakago's blast to help him. After all, he's been longing to meet her for so long and he's been feeling for her for years. Thanks a bunch to AGrandMalfunction for helping me locate them/giving me great writing advice and Tetris no Miko for translating them and Hawk for letting me bounce ideas off of him. Also, I thiiiink I might need to change the rating of this. It got a bit darker than I expected, hahaha._

_Also, I like doing these short chapters. They're kind of fun. And I'm definitely writing them faster than I am with longer chapters since I don't mull over them as long._


	3. Whispers

**III. Whispers**

_…because we never dared cry any louder for our savior._

"It's you," he whispered. "You're finally here." He started to walk towards her but stopped and his eyes widened, as if he were suddenly aware of the murders he had caused.

Nakago could show up any moment, but she couldn't just leave Amiboshi here. Not like this. She took a step forward, not giving him a chance to look away, not giving him a chance to look at the bodies. It was just the two of them. "Thank you," she said softly. "They tried to…"

"I know." He broke eye contact and stared at the ground, his back to her. Yui took another step. "Don't come near me!"

She stopped. "Why?"

"I killed them! I-" his voice dropped to a whisper and he covered his face with his free hand. "I didn't want to meet you like this. I don't know what came over me. When I heard what he wanted to do…"

She took another step. He flinched, wanting to run but rooted to where he stood. "It's okay," she said, closing the distance between them. He was only half a head taller than her, she realized. A similar scene with a different boy flashed through her mind. Her arms encircling him as he mourned, wept himself dry for his older brother. Then the boy before her trembled and replaced her memory. "It's okay," she said, extending her arm. "I'm here. They won't bother anyone else ever again."

He turned and their eyes met again. They regarded each other. It was almost Suboshi looking back at her but his face was gentler and the lethal air around him was gone. There was still a slight edge due to the circumstances of their first encounter, but Amiboshi was calm, composed, whereas Suboshi was restless and passionate. She hadn't met Amiboshi the last time she had been here; he died before she had the chance. And here he was standing before her now, like the ghost of Suboshi, but… not him. Where was Suboshi then?

How would she react when she saw him again? It was her fault, all her fault that he'd died. The heavy lump that rose in her throat was painful.

But she held the gaze.

He ran his fingers up and down his flute and bit his lip. "Priestess…"

"Yes, I'm-"

Wait. She wasn't supposed to know anything. This was her first time in the book, not her second time.

"Priestess?" she corrected herself.

"You _are_ her, right? You have to be. I felt your _ki_ just now, you're dressed in strange clothes, your hair-" he stopped again as if he realized he was being rude.

"My _ki_?" Was that how Nakago found her last time? But what triggered it?

"I was walking nearby and there was this sudden _surge_. I started running towards it. You have to understand, I've been waiting for you my entire life, I've been looking for you for the last three years-" he dropped his gaze and shuddered.

Had something happened in those three years? "Where is this place?" she asked.

"Kutou. Land of Seiryuu" So much packed into those four words. Pain. Regret. Sorrow. Fear. Why?

"You called me the Priestess of Seiryuu," she prompted. "Why?"

"A girl from another world who is destined to summon Seiryuu and protect Kutou," he said as if it were something he had rehearsed often. "And gather the seven seishi who would protect her."

There it was again, that pang of guilt. Oh, yes, she remembered the seishi. How could she forget them? They were only characters in a book, but they still died because of her. Was that also why so much had gone wrong last time? Because she did not value their lives?

This time it would be different.

She was about to ask more when someone suddenly yanked on her arm and she almost fell backwards. It was the beggar. "Missus!" he cried as he leaned on the arm he held captive. "You gotta get away from him! He's dangerous!"

"No... no!" Amiboshi reached for her, hesitated, and in that instance, the beggar dragged her further away.

"Wait!" she said, digging her heels into the ground, and when the beggar paused, she extracted herself from his grasp. "Wait, I think he-"

There was the sound of rustling and pale, worn faces peeked out from around the corners of the streets and buildings nearby.

"What was that-"

A horrified scream. "What happened to those men!"

"What's going on?!"

"Who is she?"

"Her clothes, her hair!"

"Are they members of Basara?"

They came closer and the three of them backed into each other. The beggar cowered behind her. Amiboshi grabbed Yui by the hand. "Follow me!" Before she could agree, he took off running and she could only do the same, towing the beggar after her. He yelped, but she couldn't leave him there alone. They stumbled along the first few steps, but Amiboshi's grip was strong and he was determined.

They weaved in and out among the streets. Yui caught glimpses of the ruined city, of the wrecked buildings and charred shells of what must have once been homes. Where were the people? Where was everyone? How much had she missed because she had been holed up in the palace last time? They ran through a dead marketplace, past empty, ghostly stalls. Soon they ended up under the shadow of a crumbling stone bridge. The barest dribble of a river flowed by.

"We should be safe here," he said as they leaned over to catch their breaths.

"Where is here?" she asked when she was able to talk again.

He hesitated. "My home."

* * *

_A/N: Is this a fan fulfillment fic? Yes. Totally. Because Yui and Kutou really should have a happier ending than what they had in the manga/anime. Anything you want to see? Drop me a note! I can't promise I'll be able to fit it in, but if I can, I definitely will. And thanks to harukonekonya for beta-ing this chapter. :D And for the review. Same with midnight-flurry! _


	4. Priestess

**IV. Priestess**

_…the role she had never fully become._

A bridge? He lived… under a bridge? She looked around, avoiding Amiboshi's flushed face. The floor was completely bare, not even a worn blanket. There was a large stone that he might have used as a pillow. How did he survive like this? It had to get cold at night. His situation was just as bad as the beggar, maybe worse. And speaking of the beggar…

"What's your name?" she asked. He had collapsed on the ground, worn out from all the running.

The beggar looked up. "Eh? My name? Tis Ansu."

What an odd name. "Anzu?" she repeated, just to make sure.

"No! An_su_."

"Ah." Yui smiled. "Can I call you Anzu anyway?"

Ansu glared at her and she laughed. He began muttering under his breath and scooched his legs over until his back was to her.

"What's your name, Priestess?" Amiboshi asked.

"Ah, Hongo Yui," she replied.

"Yui," he said softly as he stared at the river. "What a pretty name."

"What's yours?" she asked.

"Bu Koutoku, but my seishi name is Amiboshi," he said. He shuffled his feet around, then took a seat on the floor. "It's not much, but it's my home. I've been living in this city for a month. Before that, I traveled around for three years," he said and ran a hand through his hair. "I still can't believe you're finally here."

Now was as good as any other time to ask him about what he had meant when he said Priestess of Seiryuu. Yui took a seat next to Amiboshi, since he didn't seem comfortable facing her. "You said a girl from another world will come to Kutou when Kutou needs her most," she said. "Why now? Why not earlier? I saw the city earlier and…"

"Kutou's been going through civil war after civil war," Amiboshi said. His legs were pulled up to his chest and his chin rested on his knees as he continued to stare straight ahead. "We've had different warlords try to take over. There's an emperor, but he doesn't _do_ anything. The military doesn't either. They don't care that people are getting killed every day. Entire villages burned down, orphans made-" his voice caught, and he swallowed. "I was hoping if I could find you, you could summon Seiryuu and finally bring peace to Kutou."

The task she had never fully taken on. Because she had never taken the book world seriously. Was that why she was still haunted by thoughts of her time spent here? Because she had never truly finished her story and her role? When she didn't say anything, Amiboshi finally turned his head so their eyes could meet. He was… so much like Suboshi yet not at the same time.

"Will you become the Priestess of Seiryuu?" he asked. He had just the faintest hint of a plea. Obviously he didn't want to pressure her, but the despair was there. This was different from when she had become Priestess in order to prevent Miaka from being happy. Her decision this time would be made because of what she saw, of the horrors that could happen to people in a war-torn country, of a country that focused more on filling the pockets of those who didn't need it and starving those who couldn't. The difference this time was that because of what she was aware of now, she would never forget what her true goal was.

"Miss Yui?"

And now the burning question. Why wasn't Suboshi with him? She had to see him, to see him when he was alive again. When he had died, she had cried all night for him. "Do you know who any of the other seishi are?" she asked.

He paled. "I… do not."

There was something he wasn't telling her. Why? She had met Suboshi last time, so he wasn't dead. Why did Amiboshi look so scared? "What am I supposed to do as the Priestess?" she asked. "Besides summoning Seiryuu? How do I do that?"

"You need to find the seven seishi of Seiryuu," Amiboshi replied. "I'm one of them. The rest are probably scattered all over the country. Once you find all of them, we'll be able to summon Seiryuu."

"Is there any way to find them?" she asked.

"There should be a scroll with hints, but…" his voice trailed off.

"But?"

"It's in the palace," he said.

The palace. Oh, she remembered the palace well. She didn't fancy the idea of going to the palace right this moment, at least not without getting a better grasp of what was going on in Kutou. Come to think of it, when she had returned to the book world the first time, she had been in there for three months until Miaka came for her. Was it possible that she could find all of the seishi in those three months and summon Seiryuu so that there would never be a need for war between the two countries? She had already found Amiboshi and surely Suboshi had to be nearby. She shuddered at the thought of encountering Ashitare, who was more wolf than man. Miboshi had also creeped her out, too. How would she reach them? She could see herself connecting with Amiboshi and definitely Suboshi, since she had managed to do it last time, but the other two? And Soi and Tomo? They were close to Nakago. She had seen herself in Nakago and still did, but it frightened her to think about speaking with him again so soon. Maybe if she could talk to Soi without Nakago interfering? She hadn't talked to Soi much before, but she had seen decent. Devoted to Nakago.

Nakago. What _was_ she going to do about him? She wanted to hide from him as long as she could.

But if she wanted to find her seishi, running away was not an option. He was crucial to summonin Seiryuu. And perhaps if she could find some way to connect with him, there would be no need to worry.

This time, she would not be manipulated.

"Miss Yui?"

Something shifted inside of her. Felt right. "Yes," she said. "I will."

The relief on his face as he smiled was almost heartbreaking. "Thank you," Amiboshi whispered.

* * *

_A/N: Thank you to everyone who's reviewed, favorited, or put this story on alert so far. The notifications always make me so happy. And a special thank you to harukonekonya for beta-ing again~! You are awesome._

_Also, about Anzu vs Ansu, Anzu means _red bean_ in Japanese. ;)_


	5. Flowers

**V. Flowers**

_…because even the most desolate place will have a bloom or two._

They spent the rest of the day trying to make the area under the bridge more comfortable. Ansu set up a fire while Amiboshi used what few coins he had to buy a rather lackluster meal. Yui reassured him that the scraps of vegetables and buns were perfectly delicious. She would not let him be ashamed; if he and the other people in the city could live in poverty, so could she. They ate in silence after that. She was not like Miaka, who could strike up a conversation with anyone, and Amiboshi still hadn't gotten over his embarrassment over the earlier events. Her having accepted the role of Priestess of Seiryuu seemed to have abated his nervousness somewhat, but he was still shy. Why she didn't know, but pressing him was something she wasn't willing to do.

Supper ended. The sky was darkening and the air was turning chilly. Amiboshi pulled out a thin blanket from under the rock and handed it to her.

"It's not much, but it's better than nothing," he said.

She thanked him and sat down, wrapping the blanket around herself. She shifted uncomfortably, trying to find a place with fewer rocks. If the citizens could use rocks for money, then they would all be rich. She sighed. Even in her head, that sounded terrible.

"Lady Yui," Ansu said. "Ya best get yerself some different clothes! Ya'll stick out here otherwise, no one dresses like that."

Yui glanced down at the uniform she wore. He was right. She really did stick out. The knee-length skirt, the socks, the shoes. She was showing much more skin than most other people in this time period. Her appearance just screamed Priestess.

Which was something she wasn't quite ready for.

"But where will we get clothes?" Amiboshi asked.

"We could steal some," Ansu suggested.

"We're not stealing them," Yui said firmly. "The people in this city have enough trouble already."

"I could sell my flute…" Amiboshi's voice trailed off as he looked at the wooden instrument in his hands.

"Absolutely not," Yui said. "I'm sure we can figure something out." It didn't matter that the flute seemed to be Amiboshi's best way of using his powers. What mattered was the delicate but possessive way he held it close to himself. "You're not selling your flute," she repeated, since she caught the somewhat skeptical look in his eyes. She fingered her uniform. Yes. She didn't need the uniform. Not when it no longer served as a connection to Miaka. But to sell it just like this might leave tracks. That and she didn't really have anything else she could wear in the meantime. She was _not_ going to walk around in just her underwear.

"Lady Yui?"

"We'll figure it out tomorrow," she said. "And please. Call me Yui. Lady Yui also makes me stick out."

Ansu started to protest, but she glared at him. He shared a look with Amiboshi, and Amiboshi hesitated. "Yui…"

It felt right. Nakago and the others had always used Your Eminence with her last time. The honorific title had set her apart from her seishi. They were all just regular people, or would have been if some trick of fate hadn't thrown them together.

This time, there would be no titles. Just Yui.

"Shall I play a song for you?" Amiboshi asked. "You're a long way from home. Perhaps it will cheer you up."

He had no idea just how far she was from home, but she didn't miss it. There was only the book world now. She could think about home later. She appreciated the offer though and nodded.

He smiled slightly and put the flute to his lips. The melody that came out was completely different from the song that he had used to destroy her attackers. The soothing lullaby flowed out, surrounded her, and a warmth that did not come from the flickering embers wrapped itself around her.

She wanted to keep listening.

It was just so peaceful...

She was going to…

"Koutoku? Kooouuuutoku!"

Yui shifted. Muscles she didn't even know she had throbbed with a dull ache. Her bed. Why was her bed so hard. And where was her pillow. Sometimes she knocked it to the ground, but she was on the ground already. That was when she opened her eyes and saw a girl about her age standing nearby.

In a place that wasn't her room.

Yui jerked up and tried to back away, hitting the wall hard.

Seiryuu.

She was back in the book world.

She had almost forgotten.

The girl looked over at her. "Are you all right?" she asked. "I didn't mean to startle you." Her black hair was tied in pigtails and she wore pants underneath a tunic. She was by Amiboshi, who was just starting to stir. Ansu huddled next to him, snoring peacefully. Guiltily she realized that another thin blanket had been laid on her while she had been sleeping. The other two had only had the remains of the fire to keep them warm.

She would have to establish some new… guidelines.

Yui gingerly rubbed the back of her head. It was going to be tender for a few days. "It's fine," she said.

"Great! Then help me wake Koutoku up!" Without waiting for an answer, the girl yelled, "Kouuuutoku!"

"Wait," Yui cut in. She got to her feet and went to the girl's side. "Let him sleep. Who are you anyway?"

The girl paused and gave her an odd look. "Who am I? Who are you? You're dressed in the weirdest clothes I've ever…" her voice trailed off and her eyes widened.

Yui glanced down and realized that she had let the blankets slip, revealing the top of her school uniform.

Moments later, Amiboshi was rubbing his face blearily and Ansu glared at the girl, who had identified herself as Touka, a friend of Koutoku. Introductions had been made, and Yui did not miss the fact that Amiboshi had identified her only as Yui, not as the Priestess of Seiryuu. It turned out she had come looking for Amiboshi after he hadn't shown up yesterday at their usual meeting spot. Yui said nothing the whole time since she had been the cause, only poking at the leftovers from their meager dinner. She was almost hungry enough to consume the rest of the horrible stuff.

Almost.

"Touka," Amiboshi said. He was now wide awake, having splashed his face with water. "Do you know where we could get some clothes for L- Yui?"

Touka turned her gaze on Yui and studied her. "I have a spare set…"

Yui shook her head. "No. I need boy clothes."

Amiboshi tilted his head. "But why?"

"I'm going to stand out because my hair is short," Yui said. "That and it's more practical."

Realization dawned on his face. "Oh."

Touka mused over what Yui had said. "I could borrow some of my brother's extra clothes. They're a bit big, but-"

"That's fine," Yui said. "It'll help me fit in more. Oversized clothes will make me appear younger."

"Why don't we cut up the fabric and sell it?" Touka asked. "I can sell the fabric and get us at least a hundred fifty copper coins. We could use it to buy some extra food."

"That could feed a family of four for two weeks," Amiboshi said thoughtfully.

"A feast!" Ansu said. "We could have _meat_!" His eyes shone. "Roast duck cooked in its own juices, beef stir-fried with mushrooms and ginger spices, delicately steamed pork buns, a whole _chicken_…"

"Ah, Ansu," Amiboshi said hesitantly. "You're drooling…"

Yui snorted. It was odd thinking her school uniform, of all things, was worth so much money.

"These are interesting pieces," Touka said as she peered at the buttons on Yui's shirt. She moved her hand as if to touch them, and Yui shifted away. Touka looked up at Yui suddenly. "Are you the Priestess of Seiryuu?"

* * *

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has kindly left a review, favorited, or followed this story. Again! And a big thank you to harukonekonya again for being an awesome, awesome beta! So fun working on this story with you. Go check out her work. Her work is fantastic.

On a random note, I should mention that I'm not really sure how much money they would be able to fetch. Or the exact value of her clothes. They are of good value though, since they would be made from good cloth.

Also, as a bonus for updating a bit late, here is an omake, idea courtesy of harunekonya. This should not be considered an essential (or even actual) part of the story. It is only here for comedic purposes.

**x**

Nakago stared at the bloody, pulpy mess that had once been five street thugs. He pursed his lips together. He had sensed the Priestess. Where was she? Where did she go?

Had the_ Priestess_ done this?

Did they have a savage on their hands?

Was having someone like this summon Seiryuu really the answer?

Or was she somehow buried among the bodies?

Had she died the moment she had stepped into their world?

"Seiryuu," Nakago said as he shook his head and took his leave. "You really should have picked a better spot for the hope of Kutou to appear."


	6. Shooting Stars

**VI. Shooting Stars**

_…Trail across the night sky, a reminder of what may come…_

Touka left after they finished their breakfast. It was just as well that she left, since Amiboshi had been getting more and more flustered from trying to explain how he, a poor street rat, had found the savior of their country. Ansu went with Touka after Yui requested it. He wasn't happy with her decision, but Yui and Ansu shared a look and he nodded, following after Touka.

Amiboshi watched them leave. "Ansu will keep her safe, won't he?"

Yui nodded. "He will." She tilted her head towards him. Was there something going on here between Amiboshi and Touka? "So how do you know Touka?"

"She's the first person I met here," Amiboshi said. "She was lonely, and my music attracted her. Her parents were killed and she lives with her older brother. I don't know much more."

"An orphan," Yui said softly.

There was that hesitation again. "There are too many of us in Kutou."

"I'm sorry." Such weak words to say to someone who suffered such great losses. She regretted them the moment they slipped from her mouth. It was an automatic response, one she was trained to say, but they were meaningless. After all, she was the Priestess. If she had come sooner, how many deaths could she have prevented?

The silence stretched between them until Amiboshi got up and stared at the river. "I lost my parents in a raid several years ago," he said. "My younger brother and I were taken in by relatives. We lived with them for a while, but then I…"

"You what?" Yui prompted gently. She would not push him. She could not push him, no matter how badly she wanted to hear news of Suboshi. He had not pushed her, so she would not allow herself to return so poor a favor.

"I lost him."

"What do you mean?" she asked. She didn't know which was worse: seeing Suboshi breaking down before her, weeping until his weakened body collapsed, or Amiboshi with his eyes dry, but with so much raw pain etched on his face, so much pent-up agony threatening to break loose. Yui stepped up from behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder.

He turned towards her. "Shooting stars," he said, his voice trembling. "Mother always told Shun and me that if we saw shooting stars, something would happen to the two of us… and the day she died, I saw them…" His voice broke. "And she made me promise to always stay with Shun, but three years ago…"

"You don't have to tell me," Yui said.

"I have to," he replied. "I _lost_ him. It was all my fault. I was only twelve, I was stupid, thought that if only I could find you, then we could save Kutou. I didn't know what to do. I was afraid to burden Shun in case he wasn't a Seiryuu seishi, so I didn't tell him where or why I was leaving." He stared at her. "I'm despicable. I left… my weak, sickly brother with our abusive relatives. They sold him the moment I was gone. _Sold_ him. I've been searching for him for the last three years." He closed his eyes and tilted his head up. His last words were barely a whisper. "All… because I wasn't there to protect him."

So that was what had happened. Why their brotherly bond had been so close. Bile rose in her throat as their fates flashed through her memory. She couldn't let that happen to them. Not this time. But they had been reunited in the end. She tightened her grip on his shoulder. "That's why you hesitated when I asked you if you knew who any of the Seiryuu seishi were," Yui said. "Don't worry," she promised. "I'm sure your brother is safe and he misses you just as much as you miss him."

"Really?"

That one plaintive word hurt her more than his confession because there was so much doubt buried in it. As if he didn't know how much Suboshi adored and loved his older brother. But she understood just how much he needed that reassurance and so she gave it to him.

"Really," she replied with a smile.

He shuddered and said nothing. She was reminded once again of the differences between the two brothers. Deciding that dwelling on the topic any longer would only cause more pain, Yui decided to draw Amiboshi's attention elsewhere.

"How do we know that someone is a seishi? Besides them having some kind of... unusual power?"

"When we use our powers, a character will appear somewhere on our bodies," Amiboshi replied. He hesitated and a shadow passed over his face. "If our powers are dormant however, no one will be able to tell the difference."

The sound of rapid footsteps suddenly cut through their conversation, and Yui found herself immediately thrust against the wall, Amiboshi standing protectively in front of her. There was an instance of tense silence.

Ansu ran up, with a flustered, barely coherent Touka in tow.

"Koutoku! You! What are you doing here! How could you leave Yui all on her own!" Anzu was positively sputtering as he jabbed his finger repeatedly at the boy. "I saw you at the camps! Yelled your name! You just ignored me! How did you get back here so fast?! _And_ change-"

"Stop!" Yui cut in. "He's been with me this entire time!"

"He's what?"

They all turned to stare at Amiboshi. His face had gone white. "You saw what?" he asked hoarsely.

"I saw you," Anzu said, uncertainly this time. He scratched his head. "I mean, it looked like you. Only you were dressed in different clothes and had a black bandana around your forehead…" his voice trailed off as Amiboshi bolted.

"Koutoku, wait!"

As they turned the corner, Yui bumped into Amiboshi, who had come to an abrupt stop. "Koutoku, what are-" She looked around his shoulder and froze.

"Shun…" Amiboshi whispered.

* * *

_A/N: Hi there. Since this is late. Again. I have decided to include another omake! Well, two, since it's two weeks late. Wow. Didn't realize it's been that long. I had a bit of a difficulty with this chapter because I wanted to do one reveal, realized I hadn't set it up at all, then went back and revised it. So uh. Yep. Anyway! Thanks to everyone who has enjoyed the story so far. :D And special shout outs to harukonekonya again for being a spiffy beta, MilkyWay-Cheesecake for sending encouragement, AGrandMalfunction for an awesome surprise one morning! Eee. Much love to everyone. _

_So yep. Hope you enjoy the following two omakes. XD Just remember that they are not actually part of the story._

* * *

"KOOUUUUUTOOOOOOKUUUUUUU!" Ansu shouted as he charged Shunkaku.

"Wahh! There's a crazy man chasing me!" Shunkaku screamed. He whipped his ryuuseisui and it bonked Ansu in the head. Down went Ansu.

"You! You're!" Touka jabbed her finger at Shunkaku. "You're definitely not related to Koutoku!"

"You know my brother?!"Shunkaku exclaimed. "Where is he? How can I find him?!" He grabbed Touka by her shoulders and started shaking her.

...and that was the end of Touka.

Shunkaku stared at the two corpses lying at his feet. "I guess I can't tell Aniki about this when I find him again..."

* * *

"I left my brother with abusive relatives!" Amiboshi cried plaintively. "It's all my fault!"

Yui nodded. "Yeah, that wasn't very smart of you. You abandoned your little brother. He must hate you now."

An arrow of depression struck Amiboshi in the stomach.

"He could even be dead now," Yui continued relentlessly without realizing what she was doing.

Another arrow seemed to smash Amiboshi from behind, rocking him back and forth before he collapsed at her feet.

"Ah..." Yui said as she looked down at the fallen Amiboshi. She sucked in her breath. Had he just died of guilt? She glanced up at the sky. "Seiryuu... could I have a third chance..?"

A bolt of lightning struck Yui from above.

Nakago stepped out, his arm stretched out helplessly. He scratched his head, staring at the cinders that had once been the Priestess of Seiryuu. "Seiryuu," he shook his head. "How could you? Now we'll have to wait. Even longer! Will I be an old man before the next one appears?"

In the background, Miboshi thought to himself,_ Guess I'll just take over another person's body when the time comes...__  
_


	7. Reunion

**VII. Reunion**

_Those days... when we were once so naïve... sometimes I long for a return to them. But to go back to them would erase the wisdom we've gained through the pain and suffering we've endured._

"You're all right," Amiboshi said softly. "You're alive..!" he started to walk towards Suboshi when the familiar steel spheres _(ryuusuisei_ if she remembered correctly) Suboshi had always used suddenly whirled protectively around himself.

It was him! It was really him this time! He was alive! All the tears Yui had wept the night he died threatened to well up again and she struggled to keep her face a neutral mask. Instead of his old blue band, he wore a black one around his forehead. Twigs stuck out all over his hair and she had to suppress a giggle. He was really standing there in front of her! Even his _ryuusuisei _was nostalgic. She took a step forward and was about to call out to him when she remembered that to the book, she had just arrived.

She was not supposed to know the boy Amiboshi called Shun.

To Suboshi, she was a stranger.

Maybe it was better that way.

"Don't come near me," Suboshi said as Amiboshi approached him. His voice was harsh, and she detected the same rawness that had been there many a night ago. The _ryuuseisui_ spun around him agitatedly. "I won't hesitate to use these on you! You're not my brother anymore! You're just a traitor!"

Amiboshi hesitated. "Please…"

At the despairing note in Amiboshi's voice, Suboshi faltered and so did the _ryuuseisui._ Touka stepped forward and slapped Suboshi across the face. "Don't talk like that to him! Don't you know he's been looking for you for the last three years? And been hating himself because he lost you? And now he's finally found you and you're this ungrateful! You don't deserve him!"

"Touka!" Yui reprimanded as Suboshi gingerly touched his cheek. She grabbed Touka by the arm and dragged her several steps away. From the expression on Suboshi's face, he was _this_ close to annihilating her, and she did _not_ want to be responsible for the girl's death. "That's enough." she said.

"But-"

Yui glared at Touka until the other girl pressed her lips together and looked away. "Can't you tell the two of them are having a hard enough time reconciling?" Yui asked. Suboshi had been her only real friend back then. Knowing what she knew now, remembering her own pain at Miaka's supposed betrayal, she knew that his anger at Amiboshi was justified. "Don't complicate it any further."

Ansu followed after them. "The lady's right, we gotta let those two sort out their problems themselves. But man! Twins! Ne'er would have expected that!"

Yui shot a look at Ansu but he shrugged primly. She sighed.

"How dare he talk that way to Koutoku!" Touka exclaimed. She ignored the fact that the twins were still within earshot. "Koutoku's been looking for him for three years and this is how he treats him?"

A fury Yui didn't fully understand washed over her. "How dare _you_," she said. "Put yourself in Subo- Shunkaku's shoes. The only person he trusted in the world and the person he loved most suddenly disappeared without a trace one day. No note, no warning. Then three years without a word. How would you feel if the only family you had left did that?"

Touka's words lashed out like a whip. "Why do you care about him? You've never even met him before! Koutoku's the one you should side with!"

It took everything she had to rein in her anger and frustration. "I know what it feels like to be betrayed," Yui said coldly.

Touka pouted and looked away. Yui frowned. There was something else going on here. The girl was unusually vehement, no matter how she felt about Amiboshi. Something was familiar about this situation, but she couldn't quite place it.

"Don't listen to them," Amiboshi said. "This is between the two of us."

Suboshi looked away. "I should kill you," he said.

Touka lunged forward, but Yui and Ansu grabbed her. She screamed incoherently as they dragged her away to the other side of the bridge. "Stay with her," Yui said. Ansu nodded. Yui grit her teeth and made her way back to the twins.

They stared at her until Suboshi broke the silence with a rough laugh. "This is ridiculous," he said. "Do you really think I'll forgive you for _everything_ you've done just because you have an audience?"

"No," Amiboshi said. "I don't deserve forgiveness. I just... needed to know that you were okay."

"You _abandoned_ me."

Amiboshi's voice cracked. "I know. And I never stopped hating myself for it."

"They sold me to Basara," Suboshi said. Everything about him seemed to stiffen and he clenched his fists. "I don't need you anymore. We're going to save Kutou. Then there will never be any more orphans like us."

Basara. Why was the name so familiar? She had heard the name earlier, too, but hadn't been able to place it then. She wanted to interfere, say that she was going to save Kutou with them, but if she did, she'd be as bad as Touka. This was a problem that the twins had to solve together.

"We will!" Suboshi continued. "The Seiryuu seishi are just a myth! They'll never come! We have to take things into our own hands now!"

Amiboshi closed his eyes. His next words were barely audible. "I left to find the Priestess of Seiryuu."

"Why?!"

Amiboshi pushed down his robe until the sign on his right shoulder was visible. "I was sick of all the fighting and civil war. I wasn't sure if you were also a Seiryuu seishi. I didn't want to lay an unnecessary burden on you when you were sickly."

Suboshi paled and he mouthed wordlessly. He studied the glowing mark on Amiboshi's shoulder, then met Amiboshi's gaze. "I would have rather come with you," Suboshi whispered.

"I'm sorry," Amiboshi said. "I was an idiot and so scared. I thought you would be safe... safer." He explained how six years ago when their village was attacked, his father's last words to him were that he was a Seiryuu seishi and that he was destined to protect the Priestess who would summon Seiryuu. Until a symbol appeared on Suboshi's body, Amiboshi was to keep it a secret. And he had but at the cost of so much.

"I couldn't feel your _ki_ when I returned to our relatives' house," Amiboshi said. "I saw the shooting stars. Mom always warned us that something would happen when they showed up in the sky. I thought you were dead. But I had to know for sure. I searched... Searched for three years. Always hoping I'd feel you again."

"Well, now you've found me," Suboshi said. What signs he had shown of forgiving his older brother had vanished. "You can move on your merry way now." He jutted his chin in Touka's direction. "Marry your girlfriend. I don't care."

It was bravado. Had he been hating Amiboshi for so long that he didn't know what else to do? Hating because admitting the truth would have been too painful? She had fought against Miaka for so long because she didn't want to admit that she was at fault, too. But whose fault had it really been in the twins' case? Amiboshi had been the one who had left. Sure, he had searched for three years, but that didn't make it okay. It didn't erase the hurt.

But if Suboshi held on to his hurt, then their bonds would never mend.

She couldn't let that happen.

"Don't hold on to your anger," Yui said.

Suboshi turned on her. "Who are you to tell me that?"

"The Priestess of Seiryuu."

Silence stretched between the three of them as Suboshi looked back and forth between Yui and Amiboshi. "You what- who- Priestess?!" he finally blurted out.

"She's the Priestess, Shun," Amiboshi said earnestly. He glanced at the _ryuuseisui_ lazily spinning around Suboshi. "And you're a Seiryuu sei-"

"But you're a boy!" Suboshi interrupted. "And you're dressed funny!"

Yui started giggling. Amiboshi hid his face, but his shoulders shook. Suboshi's eyes traveled from her short hair down her chest to her legs, then back to her chest. Where he stared.

And stared.

His face reddened and the _ryuuseisui_ dropped to the floor. "You're a girl!" he exclaimed.

"Being the Priestess usually entails the person being a girl," Yui managed to say through her laughter.

"But... but..." he pulled himself together. "Well, at least you're a _proper_ girl. With-" here he cupped his hands over his chest as he purposely looked up at the sky. Yui snorted as Amiboshi squatted on the ground. "You know what I mean," Suboshi said. He harumphed. "You're not flat. Unlike someone else here."

Yui hadn't even noticed Ansu and Touka approach. "Why you stupid, selfish- I hate you!" Touka exploded.

Touka was abruptly silenced as Ansu sat on her. She flailed her arms around. "Get off of me!"

"Nope," he replied. "Not the time. You're interruptin' the show."

Touka muttered under her breath but quieted, settling with sending Suboshi death glares.

Tears brimmed at Amiboshi's eyes as he took a step towards Suboshi. "It took me three years, but I finally found her. I'm sorry I was such a fool and you had to bear the brunt of it."

The rough, hardened walls Suboshi had built around him seemed to crumble before Yui's eyes, leaving behind the young boy he was. "_Nii-chan_!" he cried. He flew at Amiboshi and the two of them clung to each other, weeping.

Yui turned away. A lump rose in her throat. This time. This time, she would not let them get separated. As she looked up, she saw a satisfied Ansu let Touka up.

Touka dumped the clothes she had traveled to Basara for in Yui's arms unceremoniously. "I'm gone," she said. "Shun's a selfish little prick. I don't want to see his face."

"Thank you for the clothes," Yui started to say, but the girl was already halfway down the street. As she watched Touka leave, the girl's waving pigtails triggered a long-forgotten memory.

Nakago smirking that he had taken down two birds with one stone.

A plot involving the Kounan military.

Basara, a group of rebels.

Boys fighting... dying...

A bound, weeping girl at her feet.

Her hand flew to her mouth as she gasped and nearly dropped the bundle of clothing.

Touka!

Why hadn't she realized it sooner? Touka was the girl Nakago had asked her to pass judgment on. The girl who had served Nakago, acted as a spy, a tool, for the Kutou general, and helped obliterate Basara all for revenge for her family. The girl who had then been betrayed by Nakago and left to be executed.

Only Yui's intervention had saved her.

And Yui had just told Touka that she was the Priestess.

* * *

_A/N: Hello! I apologize about the delay in updating. This was not an easy chapter to write and I was on vacation for a good part of the previous month, too. That and I didn't really feel like working on anything. Working to get my creative juices flowing again. Whee. Hope you enjoy the chapter, which for those of you who have not read Ryuusei Den... follows similar events. Thanks to harukonekonya again for beta-ing and discussing omake ideas with me. Wheeeee. And to everyone who's reviewed, favorited, and followed so far! :D _

_And without further ado, omake time! As always, please do not take this as an actual part of the story. These are written solely for our amusement._

* * *

_Omake I:__ Because we had to. _

Yui was the Priestess of Seiryuu. She was new to the book world. Or at least she was supposed to be new. Therefore, she wasn't supposed to know what Suboshi's power was. As he had just been introduced to her, it was proper for her to ask him. She looked him up and down. "So what's your Seiryuu power?"

"I have iron balls," Suboshi said proudly.

"What."

"I can control them!" Suboshi said with a grin. "Tessoh gave them to me and said I had an affinity for them!"

The mental image in her head. Oh god. "You-you you have balls of steel?" she managed to stammer out.

Suboshi frowned. "Yes...?"

"Going to demonstrate?"

Amiboshi smacked Yui on the head and she cracked up. "Hey! Don't tell me you weren't thinking the same thing!"

Suboshi looked back and forth between Amiboshi and Yui. "Thinking what? Hey! What are you not telling me?"

Amiboshi coughed. "Ah... even living in a camp full of boys, you are still so innocent..."

"He doesn't seem to have picked up on the innuendos," Yui said in an aside to Amiboshi.

"Nope..." Amiboshi agreed. "My poor, naive brother." He glanced at Yui. "But umm..."

Yui drew herself up."What? I'm a modern girl. I'm not ashamed of my sexuality!" She jabbed her finger first at Amiboshi and Suboshi. "Satisfy the fans! Kiss each other!"

Suboshi seemed to blow up, then there was a whistling sound. Accompanied by more whistling sounds.

"Noooo! I'm too late again!" came a deep wail. Suboshi jerked around just in time to see Nakago run up to the bloody mess that had once been the Priestess of Seiryuu. Nakago glanced at the remains, then at Suboshi. "Suboshi..."

"Eep."

There was an explosion, and Amiboshi gaped at what had once been his brother. "You... you...!" He whipped out his flute and was about to blow into it when there was a second explosion.

Nakago stared at the three bloody messes at his feet. "There really is no hope for Kutou," he muttered to himself. "Wonder if you can summon Seiryuu with the shinzaho without a Priestess and two seishi."

** x**

_Omake II: Inspired because I kept thinking Amiboshi's real name was Koutaku. The gaming magazine Yui refers to is called Kotaku. Which is usually not safe for work._

Yui chewed on her lip as she studied Amiboshi. His light brown hair combined with his sky blue outfit made him seem so young and innocent. As she watched, he ran his fingers up and down his flute. She never would have guessed what was housed in his body.

Hmmmmm.

Well, they said that the quiet ones were the ones to watch out for.

Amiboshi noticed her staring at him. "What is it, Yui?"

"Your name's Koutaku? As in the gaming magazine?"

"Gaming magazine? What's a gaming magazine?"

She continued to charge forward. "Are you a secret pervert? What kind of girls do you like? Do you-" she scrunched up her face and made certain suggestive motions.

Amiboshi turned a deep crimson. "My name is Koutoku!"


	8. Circles

**VIII. Circles**

_...that I never fully escaped, an endless, vicious cycle._

Yui didn't remember much of what happened later, only that she was busy obsessing over what Touka might tell Nakago. She debated chasing the girl down, but she might be seen and anyway, she didn't know how to confront the girl. That and if she tried to warn Amiboshi, he would ask how she knew. How could she tell him in a plausible way? Yet she distinctly remembered the tears of betrayal on Touka's face back then and how she had empathized with the girl. Touka was not much different from how she used to be.

Clearly something else had to be done.

The world was no longer as white and black as it had seemed a year ago. Yui still remembered how cheerful Touka had been this morning when she had brought up the idea of cutting up Yui's school uniform. There had to be some way for her to reach Touka. She just had to figure out how to get through. The problem occupied her, spun itself dizzily through her head. If she could not reach out to a simple citizen from Kutou, how would she manage connecting with her other seishi?

She tried to think happy thoughts, remind herself that it had only been a day and already she had found two seishi. If she could accomplish this much in just twenty four hours, surely she could find all seven seishi (even Nakago, she thought with a shudder), surely she could summon Seiryuu and prevent war in three months.

But the fear continued to haunt her, drag her down, eat at her. It was a struggle to keep her expression normal and when Amiboshi volunteered to play music again to cheer her up after he saw her ragged face, she almost accepted.

They had to work quickly. There was no time for something as frivolous as music. They had to find a way for Suboshi to safely leave Basara, which they now knew was a rebel group made up of young boys barely older than her. They were a small band, but they were determined to do _something_. To her, it seemed like Suboshi held some sort of disdain for them, but they had still taken care of him for three years. An aching hollowness filled Yui as she remembered Basara's fate.

There was also the additional issue that she hadn't even begun to tackle just how emotionally difficult it was to be around Suboshi again. The exhilaration she had felt when she first saw him had quickly faded into a nearly dehabilitating guilt. Her fault. All her fault that he had died. If she hadn't demanded for help from Nakago when she and Miaka returned to the real world, he never would have sent Suboshi. Then maybe Suboshi would have managed to survive the war between Kutou and Konan. If only she hadn't been so selfish.

If only, if only.

But that was the whole point of beginning her journey again. So she wouldn't make the same mistakes.

Knowing this did not help her problem, and she was unable to spend much time around either of the twins because Amiboshi had Suboshi's face, instead preferring Ansu's silence, who due to his older years and wider experience sensed that she somehow wanted to be left alone.

There it was, another circle.

Why was it hitting her so hard? She wanted to pound on something, feel the throbbing of her fists to tell her that this was no dream. With the exception of herself, everyone she encountered here were still characters in a book. She was here on a mission. She had to summon Seiryuu. People were going to die no matter what she did. She wasn't so naïve to believe that it would be a bloodless battle.

But this time, she wanted to believe, had to believe that the deaths would have meaning. No one would die in vain.

She brooded the rest of the afternoon on the predicaments before her. Yui had always been a great brooder. She supposed that was part of the reason why she had fought against Miaka for so long. She thought too much. Didn't reach intuitively for the decisions her heart knew she had to make. Even now she balked at the idea of encountering Nakago, even though he was part of her destiny in the book. Surely he knew she was in Kutou by now. The only question was how soon he would find her.

And then there was Tetsuya.

How was he doing? How was her relationship going to change now? This time, she would not fall from the sky for him to catch her. Being devoured by the Beast God was not going to be her fate this time.

More conundrums.

More mental paces in the paths of her anguished brain.

Somehow she found her way into the clothes Touka had brought. Her legs felt like toothpicks in the billowing cloth. That and the material was rough against her skin and as she tried to secure the robe around herself, she had realized just how tightly she had to wrap it so the collar didn't sag and reveal her breasts. Even when she used the belt to tie it, it gathered uncomfortably around her waist.

Thank goodness she had her bra on.

But if she let the shoulder slip just a bit, anyone could see the strap. There had to be a better idea.

She debated throwing it into the complete mess of problems in her head but for the sake of her sanity decided that it was not worth her time. If something happened, she would deal with it.

On the bright side, she at least fit in now.

Fit in, yes, but accepted by Suboshi?

Despite the earlier lightheartedness, he was still giving her the occasional suspicious glare. "Don't try anything funny," he said from where he sat under the bridge and let his _ryuuseisui_ twirl atop his index finger. "I hate girls. They all suck."

"She can't, the Priestess has to remain chaste," Amiboshi replied before Yui could give Suboshi a devastatingly witty response.

Yui shot a look at Amiboshi but the boy merely grinned. Great. Just great. This was starting to feel like school.

"Just pretend I'm a boy," she said to Suboshi. "I even look like one now."

Suboshi looked her up and down. "Naw. You're too pretty to be a boy."

She could feel her cheeks heat up. What was she doing? She was supposed to be in love with Tetsuya! Suboshi probably didn't even realize what he had just said or meant it as a compliment. He was a straightforward person, and he could be startlingly blunt. If he thought of something, he said it. She had known that about him since her first visit to the book world.

Amiboshi had changed in the short hours since he had reunited with Suboshi, too. There was a lightness about his step that had previously been missing. He did not seem so heavily haunted now, although she sensed a reservedness that was most likely a deep part of his character. He kept himself busy preparing their evening meal, which he had once again scrounged up. They didn't plan on staying under the bridge for long, that at least had been decided already. She had a job to do and both of the twins knew what it was. And although no one had asked nor expected it of him, Ansu had implicitly agreed to help.

Her thoughts returned to Suboshi.

He was crouched by his older brother now. The two of them were working on building a fire, and even from this distance, she could tell that Suboshi hindered more than helped Amiboshi. He kept bringing sticks and dry bits of grass that looked absolutely useless to Amiboshi and Amiboshi kept shaking his head and discarding them. Several times he knocked over the triangular structure Amiboshi had built to start the fire. Whether Suboshi's actions were intentional or not did not matter; that they appeared to thoroughly enjoy each other's company was far more important. She marveled at Suboshi's resilience. Just a little while ago, he believed the world had been against him. Now he was almost like a normal fifteen-year old boy, no longer sulking but instead laughing at the world. This was the Suboshi he was supposed to be, not the vengeance-crazed, maniacal, homicidal shadow she had known.

Why had she been so self-absorbed?

But she was here now and she could make amends to him, although he would never know why she had such a drive.

As evening fell, they discussed what to do the next day. Yui could tell that Amiboshi was against the idea of Suboshi remaining with Basara, but it was a decision that he wanted his younger brother to make for himself. Yui tried to remember what else she had conveniently forgotten in her early days in Kutou. Who else had she saved? Was the fact that she wasn't at the palace going to be fatal for someone? Had she made a bad decision in not letting Nakago find her? It didn't matter anymore; she had made a choice and she had to stick by it.

"We have to find Touka," she suddenly spoke up. "We can't let her just leave like that."

Amiboshi, Suboshi, and Ansu stopped mid-conversation and they all looked at her. Worried expressions flitted across both Amiboshi and Ansu's faces, but Suboshi waved her off. "She'll be fine," he said. "She'll go back to Basara and sulk."

Privately Yui thought that Suboshi's opinion of the female sex was rather low.

"Sooner or later people will realize that Yui is here," Amiboshi said quietly. "They'll begin taking sides. Some will want to grab her immediately. Others will be wary of even the slightest bit of hope after so long. The question is what will we do about that?"

"Can we go to Basara?" Yui asked as a moment of inspiration hit her. "You said they were planning to storm the palace, right? Maybe we can slip in with them and steal the book..."

Suboshi shrugged. "Tessou plans a lot of things, but he hasn't had much luck yet."

"But if we can get them on our side, then maybe we can convince them to take a more peaceful path," Yui said.

"Good luck," was Suboshi's dry response. "Tessou's bent on killing Nakago."

"We should still try," Yui insisted. She had to avert the disaster. The disaster Nakago had been so smugly proud of.

"The lady's right," Ansu said. "It looks like goin' to this Basara group's goin' to be the best idea." He jabbed a thumb at Suboshi. "This twin's gotta take his leave so he can go journeyin'-" he jabbed his other thumb at Amiboshi. "And this twin's gotta check on his girlfriend, make sure she's okay."

Amiboshi flushed. "She's not my girlfriend."

"Good, because I refuse to accept her into the family," Suboshi said. He crossed his arms together and Yui didn't hear the rest of what he said, so lost was she in her own plans. Reveal herself to Basara? Pretend to be a regular citizen a bit longer? And where would they start looking? She had no clue where to start searching for her seishi. And Touka, she had to do something about Touka. If she could just get Touka on their side...

She fell asleep with the thoughts and half-formed plans weaving through her mind amidst the melody of Amiboshi's flute.

* * *

_A/N: Yui's a great brooder. Kind of like me. Hopefully I managed to get that across in this chapter. Which was written surprisingly quickly... heehee. Also, I apologize. I got the timeline of Ryuusei Den all confused. It's a bit late to change it though. ^^; The original one seems to take place during the three months Yui arrives in Kutou up until Amiboshi goes to disguise himself as Chiriko, but I uhh.. misread and sped the timeline up by quite a lot. Apologies about that, hope it does not detract from the story too much. I figure that Yui meeting Amiboshi instead would change the timeline though, even speed it up._

_As always, thanks to everyone who read or reviewed, hopefully you enjoyed the story. Thanks to harukonekonya for beta-ing again! Annnnd I'm excited for the next chapter~ see you soon!_

_And now, without further ado..._

** Fushigi Akugi: Seiryuu Saikaiden: In Which Yui Broods a Bit Too Much and Learns of the Consequences.**

She kept thinking. And thinking. And thinking. What to do, what to do, what to do... Miaka was going to be here soon, she had three months to find the Seiryuu seishi, one of which she just wanted to avoid, three of whom were just plain creepy, one who she hadn't minded, and two who were already found.

"Aaaaaah! I don't know what to dooooo!"

She threw her hands up into the air and started foaming at the mouth.

Amiboshi, Suboshi, and Ansu jumped to their feet with a start. "Wh-wh-what's going on with her?" Amiboshi demanded.

Suboshi jabbed a finger at Yui. "RABID PRIESTESS."

Rabies! They had all heard of the horrors of that mad disease! Amiboshi however liked his Priestess. He didn't want to see her succumb. "Would some of my flute music calm her down?" he asked tentatively.

FWOOOOOOM.

There was a blast of blue chi and the Priestess of Seiryuu was obliterated. The infamous blonde general, Nakago, stepped out of the shadows and shook his fist at the sky. "Seiryuu! How dare you give us a contaminated Priestess! I refuse to rule over a Kutou that has been taken over by rabies!"

The ghostly figure of Yui drifted by Nakago. "But I wasn't rabid..." she moaned.

"...Shut up, no one will ever know," Nakago muttered.

The twins and Ansu stared at Nakago. "You killed her... our only hope!"

Nakago gave them a look. "Pray for a better one next time," he said with a snicker and left ceremoniously.


	9. Lessons Learned

**IX. Lessons Learned**

_...Sometimes I wonder if by trying to learn my lesson, I'll end up making mistakes with far worse consequences. Still, if my intent is better, will I still be redeemed?_

"What are you doing?"

Amiboshi froze where he had been standing. Yui stared at him until he finally sighed and looked at the ground.

"Are you leaving again?" she asked quietly.

Amiboshi bit his lip and glanced at Suboshi, who was curled up in a ball, still sleeping. They could hear him talking in his sleep occasionally. They caught the words, "Nii-chan..."

"You abandoned him once, don't do it again," Yui said.

"But I'm just-"

She cut him off. "You could at least do him the courtesy of telling him."

Amiboshi sighed. "I'm worried about him."

"Don't make the same mistake you made last time for the same reason," Yui said quietly.

Suboshi turned over in his sleep. "Nii-chan..."

"Trust him this time," Yui said.

Amiboshi said nothing after that, but he did sit down next to Suboshi and brush his twin's hair aside. He gave Yui a half-smile and then lay down next to his brother.

Yui settled down again, relieved that she had woken up in time to catch Amiboshi. She had woken up with an eerie feeling and noticed just in time that the older twin was sneaking away. Although she knew that Amiboshi was not going to leave anymore, it was difficult for her to fall back asleep and she remained awake until the sun rose from the east, waking the other three.

"_Nii_-_chan_!" Suboshi exclaimed. He looked around wildly until he saw Amiboshi lying next to him.

Amiboshi sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Mm?"

Suboshi hugged Amiboshi tightly. "You didn't leave without me this time..." The way his voice trailed off indicated to Yui that the fear really had been there.

Amiboshi and Yui shared a glance, and she saw that something in him had changed. "No," Amiboshi said as he returned Suboshi's hug. "I didn't." He pulled away from Suboshi and held him at arm's length. "We'll stay together forever."

Suboshi nodded furiously. "By the way, we're not kids anymore. I don't think I should call you _Nii-chan_." He paused for a moment. "What do you think, _Aniki_?"

Amiboshi grinned.

It was decided that Amiboshi would be the one to discharge Suboshi from Basara. Suboshi was not happy with the decision and he argued that it would be dangerous and besides they were his friends, they would understand. He objected to them treating him like a child. He was fifteen! Almost a man now! However, he could not deny that Amiboshi was far more diplomatic than himself and eventually he relented. There was also the fact that on the chance that Basara was angry enough to try to silence him for good, Amiboshi's power would be much more effective than Suboshi's. Suboshi had muttered under his breath goodnaturedly, but as with before, even he had to admit that Amiboshi's chi manipulation of emotions was superior to his own _ryuuseisui_ in this case. The _ryuuseisui_ was a physical weapon, and in this case, a psychological one would be much more effective. As they discussed this issue, Yui noticed that Amiboshi didn't quite meet her eye. She sighed to herself. Surely he was still remembering the carnage he had caused on their first meeting, and she didn't blame him for that.

Amiboshi and Suboshi traded bandanas and clothes so that the disguise would be perfect. Suboshi noted that he was the far more handsome twin and Amiboshi should be flattered to portray him. Then he briefed Amiboshi on which way to go, where to stand so they could keep an eye on him, and who the key people were. After a quick breakfast, Amiboshi was the first to leave, with Ansu, Suboshi, and Yui trailing safely behind. All traces of the Priestess of Seiryuu were now gone, replaced by a thin boy wearing ill-fitting clothes. If someone saw the three of them, they would have assumed that Ansu was the father and Suboshi and Yui brothers. Yui's blonde hair stuck out, but it wasn't too much lighter than Suboshi's honey-brown. Yui tucked her shoes and uniform into a little bundle that Ansu mysteriously found and what meager supplies they had were also there. Later when they found a knife (oh, how she missed the convenience of scissors), they would cut the material up and sell them for some money. For now though, they were slung over her shoulder. Ansu had volunteered the carry the pack for her, but she had vehemently disagreed.

"It'll help me fit in better," she argued. "No one's going to suspect the Priestess is a beggar boy carrying a bundle. They'd expect someone else to be carrying it for her, even if she did try to disguise herself."

They were trekking up the mountain now, and the pathway kept going up and down. It was one that was not often used and she could tell by just how unkempt it was. Her feet were unused to walking barefoot and every now and then, she would wince as rocks or sticks poked her feet. As much as she tried to keep up, she kept lagging behind. A horse, she decided privately. Eventually they would find a way to acquire a horse. Until then, she would just grit her teeth and bear it. Ansu kept pace with her and she could tell that he was more and more worried.

"Yui! Hurry up!" She heard Suboshi yell from the top of the most recent hill they were crossing. "You're too slow! You don't move like a boy!"

Yui muttered creatively under her breath.

Suboshi looked her up and down. "You still don't look like a boy. I keep telling you-" He did some of his own incoherent mumbling and tossed his bandana at her. "Here, wrap this around your… things."

"My things."

"Yes. Your things."

"You mean my breasts."

His face burned. "Shut up."

She grinned to herself as she stepped out of sight and unhooked her bra. A few quick movements and the bandana was tied around her chest. With her breasts bound, she wouldn't need the bra anymore. It could still be useful though, so she chucked it into the bundle. With luck, no one would open it before she was ready. When she climbed back to her feet, she realized that just the bandana was not enough to hide her breasts. She would need longer cloth.

A problem for a later time, she decided. If she could just blend in enough for now, then no one would notice her chest.

"Yui!" Suboshi yelled. "Hurry up! _Aniki_'s going to get too far ahead of us!"

She found some dirt and smudged it across her face. A few carefully planned ruffles and her hair was so mussed that it stuck out all over. She had no mirror, but she had the feeling that this was enough. Straightening up, she stepped back onto the path and trotted over to where Suboshi and Ansu waited for her.

"Better?" she asked.

Suboshi snorted and just motioned for her to follow him. The rest of the way went quickly, although she still had to step carefully to best protect her feet.

"We're almost there," Suboshi said after about ten minutes. He led them off the pathway and into a row of bushes. "If we hide there, we can see what goes on in the camp."

The three of them crouched down and pushed the branches aside just enough to peek through. They could just barely see Amiboshi, who was surrounded by boys dressed in black robes, each with a black bandana around his forehead. The boys whispered amongst themselves conspiratorially, but Amiboshi remained calm. Yui couldn't quite hear what he said to them, but she watched as the circle parted, letting a man go through. He was a remarkably good-looking man; even the scar across his face complimented rather than marred his features. Something about him that reminded her of Nakago. There was that same kind of charisma that drew followers to him, the same kind of confidence.

"That's Tessou," Suboshi whispered into Yui's ear. "He's our leader."

Yui nodded, although she had already figured it out from the way the group stood respectfully back.

"What do you have to report?" Tessou asked. "Where is Touka?"

Amiboshi said nothing for a moment. Yui stiffened. She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and turned to see Suboshi's reassuring face. He nodded.

This time, it was the younger brother showing his faith in his older brother.

Amiboshi took a step forward. "We need to talk," he said.

* * *

_A/N: Do you ever get any of those scenes where it feels like it's just getting forced out? This was one of those chapters. Most of it flowed pretty nicely until Yui, Suboshi, and Ansu actually see Amiboshi meet Tessou. Then it just went stilted and blah from there. A large part of the delay was because the chapter felt short, and I wanted to extend it, but couldn't figure out where to stop. As a good friend once told me though, if something feels wrong, it's probably your subconscious telling you something. I think it is more or less figured out here.. The crux of this chapter was really about the change in Amiboshi and Suboshi's relationship anyway. I can only hope that I'm not progressing things between the two of them _too_ quickly._

_To explain about the difference between Nii-chan and Aniki, Nii-chan is a sort of childish nickname for an older brother while Aniki is an indication of maturity. Of course, this only really happens in manga/anime as in the real world, Aniki is used by the yakuza and very rarely among regular people. Nii-san would be more common. \o\ I would have left out the distinctions, but it really does show how their relationship has changed. There's no real translation of the differences in meaning either, which is why I used the two terms to begin with._

_Thank you for explaining that to me, harukonekonya! And for your awesome beta-ing as usual! I swear, I write this story for you. XD_

_I am now heavily drawing from the source material, Ryuusei Den. If you want to read a translated version done by Sarah Henshaw, you can find it on scatteredbloom . dreamwidth . org. :D Check the tag for ryuuseiden and enjoy! It really does show such a different perspective on the twins. I love it. Also, I have pretty much adapted the last scene in this chapter from the original story so that Suboshi actually knows what's going on now this time and Yui and Ansu are with him._

_I'm really excited about the next few chapters. It's Tessou! Chama! And we'll have another seishi making an appearance soon, too! Won't spoil anything about Nakago though._

**Fushigi Akugi: The Consequences of Pointing Out the Obvious**

_I almost wanted to make this canon. But it's just something that can't be taken seriously. Aaaaah I was still so tempted though, haha. Just the first part though, not the second half, for obvious reasons. Initial idea from harukonekonya, just expanded on it. c:_

_I'm really liking Suboshi and Yui's relationship in these omakes. They're so ridiculous. Aside from the constant Yui deaths, I mean. And on that note, I would like to emphasize that I **do not** advocate violence towards women _or_ men. These omakes are not meant to be taken seriously and are meant to take after Fushigi Akugi, where Yuu Watase put forward lots of little "evil" scenarios that people came up with._

**x x x x**

"That's Tessou," Suboshi whispered into Yui's ear. "He's our leader."

Yui turned and gave him a look. "I know, I'm not stupid."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Did you just call me stupid?"

Suboshi grinned. "Maybe. Maaaaybe. What are you going to do about it?"

Yui punched him in the face.

He sputtered angrily and retaliated with his _ryuuseisui._ Then blinked when he saw the damage.

Oops.

_Oops._

He really had to stop being so impulsive.

"I apologize to all the current and future orphans of Kutou..." Suboshi said under his breath.


End file.
